Temperatures are set to take a dramatic plunge
19:00, 05 Dec 2025
The Met Office has reported snow during Christmas week(Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
A mega polar freeze is set to hit parts of Scotland, with temperatures set to feel as cold as -6C in some areas. Snow has been forecast in some parts for Christmas week with temperatures set to take a dramatic plunge.
The weather agency says snow, fog and frost are possible during the period from December 20 to January 2, which is the school holidays for the festive season and the peak time for travel, both domestically and to overseas.
Temperatures are set to feel as cold as -6C in Aberdeenshire, and -2C even as south as the Welsh Valleys in the coming days. The cold snap is set to continue — on and off — through to the Christmas period, the long-range forecast for which has now been published by the Met Office, the Mirror reports.
“This period is likely to be changeable, with further spells of rain or showers and some strong winds at times, especially in the west and northwest. Hill snow is also a possibility, mainly in the north,” the forecast on the Met Office website reads.
Although it is too early for the Met Office to state a specific forecast for Christmas Day itself, the period covers December 25 and odds had, last week, plunged for a white Christmas. William Hill has, at the time of writing, it evens for snow in Aberdeen, and just 5/4 for a white Christmas in Edinburgh. Newcastle is the likeliest English city to get snowfall on December 25 at 6/4.
And the Met Office says colder spells are possible during this period. Weather maps support their understanding as forecasters with Metdesk, a different group of meteorologists, show temperatures are generally slowly going to fall as the month progresses.
It was a balmy 11C in Gosport, Hampshire, on Thursday but, by Monday morning, it will feel like freezing for most places across the UK. The actual air temperature will be warmer but it will feel chillier due to a strong southwesterly wind. Gust speeds could hit 60mph along the coast in north Wales and Devon.
Explaining the term “white Christmas”, the Met Office says: “A single snowflake has to be observed falling on the 24 hours of 25 December, by either an official Met Office observer or by a Met Office automated weather station. This is because it needs to be officially verified both for our climate records, and also to provide consistency and certainty.”
And bookmakers are confident this will be the case, particularly after the Met Office’s new long-range forecast. It predicts several snow showers, especially in northern areas and on higher ground.
Lee Phelps, a spokesperson for William Hill, said: “The UK public seem to dream for a White Christmas every year and in 2025 we give Aberdeen the best chance of seeing snow at Evens. Newcastle is the likeliest English city to get snowfall on the 25th at 6/4, ahead of Leeds (5/2), with London an outside chance at 6/1.”
